No, it didn’t make me feel cheap. I’m from a major urban centre so I’m used to seeing all kinds of art. Does your local community college have an art appreciation course you could sign up for? If your area is too remote and doesnt have a college, perhaps you could look online.

Exactly. I worked in the financial sector and the companies I worked at banned sleeveless shirts. I think there are certain jobs where sleeveless shirts for women are quite appropriate and should be allowed and others where they are not it just depends. At a casual restaurant or bar, I think it is fine, but at an office that regularly meets with clients probably not.

AAAARRRGGGHHHH! There is nothing worse than when sexism comes from your own sex. Given that Kim Campbell, 70 and Nick Morgan, 65, are both at the end of their careers, I would hope that they’d have something more substantial to offer young women rather than just focusing on appearances. And if you can’t stop thinking about our bodies, then you shouldn’t be in management, dammit!

I am a feminist and I don’t accept that this is sexism. Expecting professional dress from professionals is eminently reasonable. Nearly all workplaces have dress codes and for good reason.

I don’t need to see your body in a serious working environment and in fact I object to it. This is not the red carpet and this is not a model runway. I don’t need to see or know how “sexy” you are and it is not slot-shaming to have a basic standard for everyone.

Your on a roll Phil (awkward). That’s two things I would agree with. There used to be an understood professional attire but Andrea’s point of view is exactly why anything goes nowadays. To suggest otherwise one gets called a sexist.

The issue is the gap between what men and women are wearing. Why are the dress codes so different? What would happen if a male MP entered the House of Commons in a sleeveless top, for example? To question the current state of affairs is not sexist. The issue has to be discussed and we must keep in mind that the multi billion dollar fashion industry plays a huge part. Not only do professional women earn unequal pay, they are also coerced, through relentless advertising targeting them directly, into spending far more for their work clothes than their male counterparts do. Thank you, Ms Campbell for opening the debate.

She was not the author of that portrait, she was the subject. Art can sometimes be provocative, Michele. I done think she ever attended the HOC in a sleeveless dress, though. I don’t see any hypocrisy.

I’m talking about a hypocrite Minister of Justice who thought it appropriate to pose bare-shouldered and provocatively in an official portrait, yet thinks herself fit to pronounce what other women should be wearing.

If being sleeveless in a professional or official context was impowering in any way, men would have given themselves that right a long time ago. I doubt that we will see many men take to the streets for the right to bare arms any time soon.